[Choir] choir thoughts and plans

[Richard Riley]

Dear Choir members all,

Thank you for the hard work that you put in this morning to sing John
Lennon's "Imagine." It was a piece chosen by me to mirror some of the
gazing into the past, present, and future asked of the kids who shared
their thoughts this morning.

"Imagine" is a song that many of us feel we know "personally," and I think
our instinct is to sing it personally - the way John Lennon sang it way
back when. But a setting of a solo song for chorus often struggles with the
conflict between singing it the way we feel it as individuals, and
coordinating all the singers. I deeply appreciate the work you all did to
render this personally... as a choir!

I will confess also to being challenged this morning by a worrying blow to
one of my sisters. My sister Susan, who is a composer, was expecting to
have an opera premiered this weekend in San Francisco. For reasons that are
too complicated for me to explain here, that premiere did not take place. I
spent yesterday with her in Petersham, Massachusetts, where she lives.

Each one of us involved in music at UCM arrives at every rehearsal and
every service with a slice of life having transpired in the few days since
we last saw each other. On the one hand, we can't talk about our personal
lives all the time, but on the other hand, one of the motivations to make
music with others is that we want to share: to share the desire to make
music together, to share who we are, to share in life's joys and sorrows. I
truly hope that all of you feel that the choir is a place where you can
share your life.

Finally, a few reminders about upcoming rehearsals and services. We meet
next Thursday, from 6:30 - 9 as usual, for a regular rehearsal.

The choir will NOT sing next Sunday morning, May 8. This is because I
wanted to limit the amount of music that we need to prepare with "Music
Sunday" coming up on May 15, and also because a good number of us are
involved in the Onion River Chorus concert that Donia Prince will direct at
UCM on May 7 and 8.

In the following week we wil rehearse as usual on Thursday night from
6:30-8;30, and on Saturday afternoon, May 14 at 1 pm. Members of the
orchestra that will be playing with us on the Handel and Beethoven will
rehearse with us on Saturday.

Please do your very best to adjust your schedules so that we can prepare
Music Sunday to be a fun and thrilling Sunday service.

All best,
Dick
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